Piling Canada Issue 1 2012

ISSUE 1 2012 $4.50 CANADIAN

From Line Pipe to Piling JD Fields is Primed for Canadian Markets

ALSO

HELMETS TO HARDHATS Construction trades help military members transition back into civilian life

PLUS

Center Rock Employs ‘Plan B’ to Rescue Chilean Miners

750, 333 - 11th Avenue Calgary, Alberta T2R 1L9 Phone: (403) 264-6688 Fax: (403) 237-8271

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher

701 Henry Ave. Winnipeg, MB R3E 1T9 Phone: 204-953-2189 Toll Free: 1-866-953-2189 Fax: 204-953-2199 www.lesterpublications.com

28

40

President Jeff Lester Vice President & Publisher Sean Davis Managing Editor Stone Wallace Contributing Writers Jim Chliboyko Margaret Anne Fehr Barb Feldman Heather Hudson Lisa Kopochinski Judy Penz Sheluk Graphic Designers John Lyttle Myles O’Reilly

47

© 2012 Lester Communications Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors and/or editorial sources contained in Piling Canada magazine are those of the respective parties and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher.

DEPAR TMENTS

Account Executives Quinn Bogusky Jill Harris Kathy Kelley Louise Peterson

4

Letter from the Editor

6

From the Pile

12

16

Technology Update

News and information from around the industry.

19

Technology Update

Company Profile

22

From Line Pipe to Piling: JD Fields is primed for Canadian markets.

28

Sonic Drilling Ltd.

Excedrin Headache.

Project Spotlight

The Redo of the Assiniboine Park Zoo.

Project Spotlight

Winnipeg’s Hotel Boom.

Stock photography, unless otherwise credited, comes from Photos.com

Printed in Canada.

Please recycle where facilities exist.

On the cover Photo courtesy of JD Fields.

See the profile on this company on page 12.

2

Piling Canada

35 features

Publication Mail Agreement #40606022.

Return Undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 701 Henry Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3E 1T9

Center Rock Employs ‘Plan B’ to Rescue Chilean Miners Industry ingenuity shortens rescue timeline.

40 Helmets to Hardhats

Construction trades help military members transition back into civilian life.

47

In the Deep

Graduates of Seneca College’s Underwater Skills Program fully qualified and ready for underwater construction work.

SERVING WESTERN CANADA FROM FORT ST. JOHN • GRANDE PRAIRIE • CALGARY • REGINA

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Adios, Amigos

F

or our first issue of Piling Canada for 2012 we are proud to offer our valued readers stories covering a wide array of industry topics, which we trust you will find both interesting and informative. Our Project Spotlight section highlights the new Churchill/Manitoba exhibit at Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park, a grand reorganization of the existing zoo, scheduled to be unveiled in 2013. Also, a number of new hotels are currently being built (or are in the planning stages) in Winnipeg and writer Jim Chliboyko provides us with the latest construction updates.

Our Technology Update features a couple of unique stories: “Sonic Drilling” (a cutting-edge technology that will cut time, supplies and cost) and “Excedrin Headache” – which details current methods on how to reduce noise and vibration on construction sites.

Our Company Profile (and the focus of this issue’s cover) highlights JD Fields and Company, which has been in operation since 1985, earning a reputation of quality and excellence as a trusted name in material supplies.

This issue’s three feature stories focus on diverse topics: Pennsylvania-based Center Rock Inc. and its participation in the dramatic rescue of the 33 trapped Chilean miners in 2010; Seneca College in Ontario, whose Underwater Skills Program graduates are

fully qualified and ready for underwater construction work, and a feature we are particularly proud to offer is “Helmets to Hardhats”, a program that will provide job placement services to Canadian military members who are transitioning from active service to civilian life.

A special thank you to the great team of writers who supplied these stories: Jim Chliboyko, Margaret Anne Fehr, Barb Feldman, Heather Hudson, Lisa Kopochinski and Judy Penz Sheluk. This talented group spoke to the industry professionals to get the facts that you want to know.

And a nod of appreciation to JD Fields for providing editorial as well as the images to accompany their profile.

All of these people are responsible for making Piling Canada the successful industry publication that it is.

In closing, I would like to announce that this will be my final issue of Piling Canada as I will be leaving Lester Communications to pursue other interests. It has indeed been my pleasure to work with this fine team of professionals in bringing you Piling Canada, along with the other terrific Lester publications. I thank them for their friendship, support and encouragement during my 18 months as Managing Editor. And I thank you, our readers, for your ongoing interest.

All my best, Stone Wallace, Managing Editor PC

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INDUSTRY NEWS

FROM the Pile

From the Pile highlights industry news, company announcements, key events and other things that are important to Canada’s piling industry. If you have something you think should be highlighted in From the Pile, email us: gtaylor@lesterpublications.com Atlas Copco opens Nfld facility

Atlas Copco, a global industrial group of companies headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, manufactures products on 68 production sites in 20 countries.

Atlas Copco adds warehouse

Mississauga, Ontario – The 17,000 square foot (1,580 square meter) hub office of Atlas Copco Mining and Rock Excavation Technique Canada in Langley, BC, has been operational since June of last year, and plans are underway to complete the warehouse area by the spring of 2012. The Langley office is responsible for sales, parts and service in British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Equipment rentals are also available. At least six new jobs were added as a result of the new hub office, the company stated in a news release.

“We’re able to understand and respond to our customers’ needs so much better now,” said Jamie Charland, Atlas Copco’s regional manager for Western Canada. “Before we had this hub office, the three-hour time zone difference was a real challenge.

Now, our resources are right here in BC, and a lot closer to our western customers. At the same time that many companies are pulling back and centralizing their parts and service, we’re doing everything we can to improve turnaround time for our customers.”

The warehouse part of the hub office project will provide inventories of parts and components for customers. When it is completed, customers will be able to get parts the same day or next day.

The Western Canada hub office serves customers in a variety of industries, from coal, copper, gold, and diamond surface mining operations in the Northwest Territories to surface drilling, quarries, and construction aggregate operations on the lower mainland.

6

Piling Canada

Mississauga, Ontario – Atlas Copco Mining and Rock Excavation Technique Canada has announced the opening of its newest facility, a warehouse and rock drill repair shop, in Pasadena, Newfoundland. Staff on the island includes four service technicians and a dedicated account manager. Nicholas Dillman has been appointed acting manager for the facility, effective immediately, reporting to Blaine Vatcher, eastern region manager for Atlas Copco.

“Over two years ago, we moved a service technician to Newfoundland to support a few key customers and to start the process of understanding the unique needs of the region’s potential clients,” said Vatcher. “We learned that our customers in Newfoundland prefer to deal directly with their suppliers. That’s why we’re here today.”

When asked about future plans for the facility, Vatcher answered, “With key customers signing service contracts – as they are doing – we are able to invest in the future by expanding our parts and service support even further.”

The new facility will support and stock inventory for exploration drilling, surface drilling rigs, underground drilling, Scooptrams and trucks, rock drilling tools and ground reinforcement products. Plans are in place to add other strategic OEM partners for parts and service as end-users require them.

Atlas Copco to acquire GIA

Mississauga, Ontario – Atlas Copco AB has agreed to acquire the underground business of GIA Industri AB from Vätterledens Verkstad AB. With the acquisition, Atlas Copco broadens its offerings with products including electric mine trucks, utility vehicles and ventilation systems.

GIA Industri AB was founded in 1884 and has been owned

by Vätterledens Verkstad AB since 1994. The GIA headquarter and production facility is located in Grängesberg, Sweden. The acquired business has 113 employees and annual revenues of about MSEK 230. The seller will retain the operations of GIA that are not related to mining. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

“The acquisition of GIA is a good strategic fit for Atlas Copco. We are entering new market segments and will be able to serve customers with an even broader product portfolio,” said Bob Fassl, business area president for Atlas Copco Mining and Rock Excavation Technique.

“We especially look forward to offering our customers the Kiruna Electric haulage truck with its strong environmental profile. We see great opportunities in leveraging Atlas Copco’s global sales network for this and GIA’s other products.”

GIA’s products also include locomotives and shuttle car systems for underground transportation, charging and service

INDUSTRY NEWS

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

trucks, scaling and cable bolting equipment, digging arm loaders (Häggloader) and complete ventilation systems. GIA is mainly represented through distributors. For more information about GIA, see www.gia.se. GIA Industri AB will be part of the Underground Rock Excavation division within Mining and Rock Excavation Technique. The acquisition was expected to be closed during the first quarter of 2012.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge: largest piles ever driven

Pearl River Delta – South China Sea – American Piledriving Equipment’s eight-hammer “Octakong” vibratory pile driver hammer drove the final record breaking pile in front of a crowd of over 200 people on the South China Sea, who came to witness the world’s largest pile drive to grade.

The last of 120, 72-foot diameter steel piles has been driven into place, completing construction of two circular sea bound walls in the South China Sea, for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Seaway project.

Seventy-two-foot piles, driven with American Piledriving Equipment’s giant eight-hammer piledriver called The Octakong, for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Seaway project, are the largest piles ever driven. These 72-foot diameter steel piles, and the equipment that install them, enable an acceleration in cofferdam and seawall construction that paves the way for land reclamation and sea-bound construction across the globe.

The two enclosed sea-bound walls are to form bulkheads for two artificial islands under construction for the Hong KongZhuhai-Macau Seaway project due to be finished 2016.

The two islands will form transition structures between the project’s 4.2 mile tunnel section, built to allow deep water ship access to the Pearl River Delta from the South China Sea, and 8

Piling Canada

three cable-stayed bridge spans linking Hong Kong in the east to Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai to the west.

The artificial islands’ seawalls each comprise 60 individual adjoining cells, each adjoined by wingwalls, in order to form a perimeter of the island. Traditional construction methods of the bulkheads would have taken years, with each cell having to be fabricated individually by driving one interlocking sheet pile at a time to form each cell, and each cell constructed to adjoin the next until the island wall perimeter was closed.

A construction method driving the cells as individual massive steel piles had never been tried on this scale in these conditions.

The pile driving equipment capable to supply the force to drive the piles was conceived of, but not yet constructed.

Allnamics Pile Testing Experts of the Netherlands helped convince Chinese contractor First Harbor Marine Group China that a massive multi-vibro hammer can be used to drive 130-foot long, 72-foot diameter steel pipe piles weighing 600 metric tons each into the sea bed of the South China Sea to the required depth.

By using the innovative Octakong pile driver to drive the 72-foot diameter piles, the construction schedule was reduced to less than seven months.

Specially designed, engineered and manufactured for the project by American Piledriving Equipment, Inc. (APE) of Kent, Washington, the Octakong consists of eight synchronized vibratory pile drivers powered by eight CAT 1200 HP engines in order to drive each 72-foot steel pile, saving an immense amount of time.

Commenting on the project, APE President John White said: “The completion of the circumference of each island’s wall marks major advancements in the field of sea-bound construction, land reclamation technology and pile driving – at 72-feet, these are the largest diameter steel piles ever installed.”

D Delta: e l t a : 8 8500 5 0 0 R iRiver v e r RRd., o a d Delta, D e l t a ,BC B C V4G V 4 G1B5 1 B 5 Canada Canada s : ( 6 0 4 )604-946-2655 9 4 6 - 2 6 5 5 FaFax: x : ( 6604-946-2630 04) 946-2630 B uPhone: l l FrFree: e e : 1 -1-866-400-7473 866-400-7473 ToToll C aCalgary: l g a r y : 9 19100 0 0 VeVenture n t u r e Av e n uS.E., e S . ECalgary, . , C a l g a AB r y, AT3S B T3 S 0A2 Ave. 0A2 PPhone: h o n e : 4403-263-1788 0 3 - 2 6 3 - 1 7 8 8 Fax: Fa403-236-2478 x: 403-236-2478 403-236-1788 Toll Free: To l l Fr e e : 11-866-441-PIPE -866-441-PIPE

Supporting the construction industry since 1953

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Penstock

Our support systems extend far below the surface

We b s i t e : w w w. d o m i n i o n p i p e . c a

INDUSTRY NEWS Soilmec Journal celebrates production of 4000th rig

Houston, Texas – The most recent issue of the Soilmec Journal is now available. Published twice a year by Soilmec S.p.A., the journal reports on international projects and important new Soilmec products and technology.

This issue marks Soilmec’s celebration of production of the company’s 4000th rig – an SR-100. Soilmec produced the 3000th rig as recently as 2007.

The 4000th machine – painted with a special livery to honor the event – is now being used by Trevi in Denmark on Copenhagen’s new Cityringen Metro Project, an expansion of the existing Metro system in the city centre.

Trevi is using the SR-100 in the Cased Secant Pile (CSP) mode to build foundations for 17 new Cityringen stations. Soilmec pioneered the CSP method on a self-contained rig nearly 20 years ago.

Trevi is also using a new generation of hydromills mounted on the Soilmec SC-120 hydraulic crawler crane to construct diaphragm walls for the new stations. Trevi will be performing soil consolidation ahead of the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) to stabilize the soil prior to tunnelling.

Other new projects, products, and technologies described in the Soilmec Journal include:

Building Infrastructure from the ‘Ground Up’ For Over 45 Years

Soilmec Journal says the company has reached the goal of the 4000th machine produced, “the first and only company in the world to achieve this significant goal.”

Disraeli Bridge Project, Winnipeg, Manitoba The aging Disraeli Bridge over the Red River is being replaced with a new bridge to incorporate four lanes (two in each direction) of vehicular traffic, with a separate, new “Active Transportation” bridge for cyclists and pedestrians. The bridges provide a vital link between downtown Winnipeg and the northeastern portion of the city, enabling more than 40,000 vehicles to cross every day. PC

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The Group

From Line Pipe to Piling JD Fields is primed for Canadian markets

By Dean Abbondanza Director, Technical Sales & Market Development JD Fields Construction Products

S

ince 1985, JD Fields & Company, Inc. (JDF) has been a material supplier providing API line pipe to the oil and gas industry, and steel piling for deep foundation applications. More than 25 years later, this unique and diverse sales organization has proven its viability through cyclical markets, while still remaining a leading source to both industries. For the last five years, The Houston Chronicle has recognized it as a top 100 private company.

Steel Piling, Applications and Geostructural Technical Support JD Fields’ Construction Products Group specializes in steel piling and deep foundation applications. Comprised of an experienced sales team and strategic stocking locations, JDF has aligned with domestic and international producers to offer one of the broadest ranges in piling. They are a top tier supplier of US manufactured 12

Piling Canada

H Piles, Beams and Pipe Piles, as well as a complete line of Hot Rolled and Cold Form Sheet Pile solutions.

The Construction Products Group recently added the latest German export to their product arsenal: the new and improved hot rolled sheet pile series from Hoesch Spundwand Und Profil.

This new Z shaped series is the market evolution of wider, lighter, stronger sheet piling. The Hoesch 700 mm sections were designed with a new and improved Larssen interlock, resulting in better strength-to-weight efficiencies, improved driving characteristics, and greater interlock swing. In late 2011, the mill began producing the midrange series with five sections ranging in section moduli from 2460 cm³/m – 2765 cm³/m. In Q1 of this year, they have started rolling the intermediate series with another four sections with section moduli of 1735 cm³/m – 1945 cm³/m. Throughout 2012, Hoesch will continue to release additional series to cover the complete hot rolled spectrum. In addition to the Hoesch sheet pile products, JDF also distributes the Peine Beam combined walls. Like Hoesch, Peine Trager is a sister mill in the Salzgitter Group. This allows JDF to bring one of the broadest ranges of hot rolled piling to the Canadian construction markets.

On top of the new materials, the Construction Products Group is developing a technical/consultative side. Recently bringing on experienced sales and technical professionals, the

BEAM SYSTEMS

u l u s Wa l l S o l u t i o n s > K i n g P i l e S y s t e m s > P e i n e B e a m S y s t e m s

COMPANY PROFILE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“The JD Fields Construction Products Group is committed to setting

LARSSEN 430

H i g h M o d u l u s W a l l S o l u t i o n s > KCanada’s i n g P i l e S ypiling s t e m s >standard.”

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151 hottest 173in the 195 158 is of the energy field 792.62 67.23 _ 35.63 39.93 44.24 37.27 the Canadian over 108240 3610Oil Sands. The oil 174 sands contain 195 216 174 billion 182 barrels of economically oil, second size to 39.12 Saudi 875.29 73.56 _ viable 37.68 41.98only in 46.28 119530 3950 184 205 a tremendous 226 191 Arabia. Provinces such as Alberta surge L A37.07Rhave S Sseen E N 45.67 4 3 038.50 1072.42 78.03 _ 41.37 in the mining bitumen 202 from these 146450 4190and extraction of 181 223clayey sands.

188 With an estimated one_ hundred reserves, the oil 40.55 sands 1184.83 85.47 39.12years of 43.42 47.51 161800 4590 191 construction 212 232 198 are by far Canada’s fastest growing sector.

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The Larssen 430 system from Hoesch Spundwand

cm 396 The Larssen 430 57.55 13.24offered a unique wall profile that provided 2/ft 281 1.23 ft 42.63 the bending capacity, and stiffness needed. It not only exceeded 2 /m m13.24 3.96 2929.99 148.23 _ 47.31 51.61 55.91 48.74 53.66 58.37 the structural requirements, it offered a material savings com400120 7960 231 252 273 238 262 285 1.23 in3 228.80 Static Moment Sy pared to60.41 the heavier specified. For 3 sheet pile section originally 3099.37 159.22 _ 49.35 53.66 57.96 50.79 55.70 13.24 cm 3750 423250 8550 241 262 283 248 272 295 1.23 this phase of the project, more than 30,000 square meters of 4 in 5810 3365.26 168.34 _ 51.20 55.29 59.59 52.63 I y 57.34 13.24 4 Larssen 62.05 430 was successfully installed.

241800 459560 9040 250 270 291 257 280 303 pilingcm 1.23 Second Moment of Inertia engineered foundation systems, JDF recognizes 3656.56 180.63 _ 55.70 59.80 64.10 57.14 Iz 8861.85 Marketing 66.56 13.24 in4 – 4 499340 9700 272 292 313 279 302 1.23 cm the value325of an extensive product range, backed by experienced Image courtesy of oilshalegas.com 3863.72 189.94 _ 57.34 65.94 58.78 63.49 in professionals. As the 1.12 Radius of 61.64 Gyration technical68.20 and sales13.24 oil sands continue to 527630 10200 280 301 322 287 iy 310 333 1.23 cm The Kearl Oils Sands north develop 71.47 throughout Canada, JDF is ready28.40 to respond to design4630.86 210.99 _ Project 60.41is seventy 64.71 kilometers 69.01 62.05 of 66.76 13.24 632390 11330 295 316 303 326locking of349 1.23 1) The section modulus of D, 337 V andThe per m wall requires the factory–crimped interlocks to accommodate the shear Fort McMurray, Alberta, in the Athabasca region. region ers and contractors with additional geostructural steelforces. material 2) Double and quadruple piles including the interior of the free locks. has an estimated 4.6 billion3) barrels of bitumen a systems and solutions. Having more than 120,000 tons of line Without interlock interiorresource, – two–sidewith coating.

4) Without stiffeners.

40 year reserve. A jointly owned venture between Esso Imperial pipe and piling in inventory throughout eight stocking locations Oil & Exxon Canada, it is one of the largest open pit mining and nine sales offices, JDF is primed for growth in regions and operations permitted. The overall schedule involves 740,000 markets throughout North America and Canada. cubic meters of trench excavation and the installation of 27,000 From port, marine, highway and transportation structures, lineal meters of deep underground piping. (Statistics sourced from to heavy civil, geostructural, and environmental containment Canadian Oil Sands; cdnoilsands.com) solutions, they’re bringing the features and benefits of steel The project called for heavy duty sheet pile system, and after pile systems to specialized civil applications. The JD Fields examining the specifications, JDF was able to identify and proConstruction Products Group is committed to setting Canada’s vide a cost effective sheet pile section for this application. piling standard.

Issue 1 2012

31.86 2.96 – 4113 171200 – 1.12 28.40

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COMPANY PROFILE

Taking the Lead

In the Pipeline

in over 40 countries around the world

Leader Systems Impact Hammers Statnamic Load Testing Technology Reverse Circulation Drills Custom Foundation Equipment Site Support Project Planning

JDF is the North American leader in API line pipe supply, carrying over 100,000 tons of revolving inventory throughout the US. Along with numerous stocking locations nationwide, their 40 acre flagship facility is located in the Port of Houston Corridor.

What differentiates JD Fields from the competition is the range of domestic and international material they stock, and the knowledge of their sales staff. Coated and non-coated pipe is available in 1" O.D. thru 60" O.D., in API grades B thru X-80 as well as CSA spec. material. This material availability and intimate knowledge of both the API and CSA specs allows their sales team to react and respond to the project demands of the Oil and Gas Industry.

JD Fields has, and continues to supply, thousands of miles of line pipe into numerous fields throughout North America. This business includes a tremendous amount of pipe sold each year for export to Canada including everything from straight API material to API spec tested to CSA sour service, and CSA spec material.

JD Fields is proud of the loyal following of pipe and piling customers they have developed in Canada over the years, and looks forward to continued growth in the business. PC

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To learn more about JD Fields Construction Products, please visit www.jdfields-cp.com

Wellington Street Marine Terminal Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8L 4Z9 Tel: 1.905.528.7924 Fax: 1.905.528.6187 Toll Free: 1.800.668.9432 (in Canada and USA) www.berminghammer.com www.berminghamfoundationsolutions.com 14

Piling Canada

Contacts: Dean Abbondanza – Director, Technical Sales & Market Development, JD Fields Construction Products 412-343-6051, da@jdfields.com Pat Burk – E.V.P., President – Construction Products 281-558-7199 pburk@jdfields.com, Todd Fagan – Vice President, Pipe Sales Canada 972-869-3794, tfagan@jdfields.com

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Sonic Drilling Ltd. Sonic drilling technology soars to new heights thanks to innovation of engineer

By Heather Hudson

2011 Sonic 390 Model Drill rig.

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Piling Canada

Photos courtesy of Ray Roussy

H

e didn’t invent it. He wasn’t the first to develop it. But mechanical engineer Ray Roussy is the last man standing with the tenacity to carry on the work of sonic drilling pioneers that began a century ago.

What began as one of the first projects of his career back in the early 1970s has become Roussy’s life work – one that he is loath to ever give up.

“I’m 64 now so I’ll have to come to the realization that I can’t do this forever… but I don’t plan to retire; I’ll work until I drop.”

The sonic drilling technology he has spent 30 years developing is getting attention as a reliable drilling method all over the world. Its non-intrusive nature means it’s in high demand for sensitive projects like dam and hazardous waste site remediations, as well as nuclear site investigations.

After tinkering with the technology and amassing a number of patents over the last 30 years, Roussy has also been building up a couple of businesses based on sonic drilling. Sonic Drilling Ltd. is a Vancouver, BC-area contracting company featuring a number of rigs outfitted with the “Roussy sonic drill head” used in environmental investigations, mining exploration and geothermal drilling projects.

Sonic Drill Corporation is a manufacturing business that produces a product line of drilling rigs using the world’s most advanced and tested sonic drill heads.

He has also licensed the technology to a Japanese company, which develops machinery for construction use in that country.

All this because of the single-minded drive to see one of the first engineering projects he ever worked on through to a successful end.

“I was a young engineer looking for something exciting to work on for my career and this thing kind of fit the bill.

(Sonic drilling) was interesting machinery and had potential but also lots of problems. It was a very challenging field to be in and that’s kind of what I was looking for as an engineer,” he said.

Though it’s gaining in popularity today, sonic drilling technology had humble beginnings. Its roots can be traced back to the efforts of George Constantinesco, a Romanian intellectual who created a prototype of a rock drill working on a percussion system. Unlike pneumatic drills, Constantinesco’s vibratory prototypes

Ray Roussy.

were capable of boring through hard granite rock quietly and smoothly.

By the 1940s, the technology came to the US for use in the oil industry and continued to be developed by Drilling Research Inc. and then American inventor Albert Bodine (funded by Shell Oil).

Most of his efforts were directed at large vibratory pile driving machines, although his organization eventually developed

a smaller vibrator for seismic shot-hole drilling.

In the early 1970s, Bodine sold his drilling and pile driving equipment to Hawker Siddeley, a British aircraft manufacturer with Canadian offices. Young engineer Roussy was working in one of them in Thunder Bay, Ont. He was assigned to the design team focused on the pile driving equipment and which later concentrated

Issue 1 2012

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE on adapting the vibratory shot-hole driver to general shallow earth drilling.

Despite the engineers’ best efforts, rigs produced by Hawker Siddeley using early sonic technology experienced frequent breakdowns and lacked appropriate tooling to withstand the associated vibratory forces. When the recession hit in the 1980s, Hawker Siddeley left off developing work in this field.

But Roussy couldn’t let it go. He left the company to keep working on the sonic drill head and adapt it to different applications.

“I saw a real need for it,” he explained. “Part of my role was to try these out with different applications and I could see there was good market potential for this machinery. Hawker Siddeley was a big company – they were looking for equipment they could massproduce, so there wasn’t a whole lot of interest in this machine.

But for a smaller type of manufacturing company I could see there was potential.”

Having just made a difficult transition from his Ontario home to the overcast climate of Vancouver, Roussy was inspired to take yet another risk and start all over again. This time he would follow his own instincts and strike out on his own.

But things didn’t launch as quickly as he would have liked.

“It took forever for Sonic Drill to take off. The big problem was getting financing. I was faced with, ‘If a company like

“I’m 64 now so I’ll have to come to the realization that I can’t do this forever … but I don’t plan to retire; I’ll work until I drop.”

– Ray Roussy, owner, Sonic Drilling Ltd. Hawker Siddeley can’t make this technology work, what makes you think you can do it?’”

While he was working to get financing to get his business off the ground, he found financial salvation servicing and upgrading the original Hawker Siddeley drill heads to make them more reliable and constructing a number of similar sonic drill heads.

Eventually, Roussy built a sonic drill head and drill rig for himself and formed Sonic Drilling Ltd. “The big market was environmental drilling and the phone started ringing off the wall. Revenue from that contracting division allowed further development to get it to the point that it was a reliable machine and then we got to sell machines to manufacturing companies all over the world.”

With his patented technology, Roussy can claim credit for not only improving on the efforts of those who went before him but of finally bringing a highly-sophisticated sonic drill to market.

And others are noticing. In 2010, he won a coveted Innovation Award from the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation for developing one of the fastest drilling systems in the world. The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition also awarded Sonic Drilling 18

Piling Canada

Ray Roussy on the jobsite.

Corporation winner of the ‘best new drilling technology’ in 2008.

“My main role is as someone who commercialized technology.

I didn’t create it, but it certainly wasn’t in very good condition when I started in on it and we’ve gotten to the point where we’ve got quite reliable machines.”

Today, the sonic drill head can drill three to five times faster than any other on the market without the use of drilling mud and with up to 80 per cent less waste. Sonic drills can also provide continuous undisturbed core samples to a depth of 300 feet.

While there are unlimited applications for this technology, the top three uses for a sonic drill rig are geo-thermal installations, environmental investigations and mineral exploration.

Award-winning sonic drill rigs, patented and built by the Sonic Drill Corporation, have worked on thousands of drilling projects around the world.

Roussy says it’s now being regarded as yet another tool in the construction and piling industries. “The advantages are noise and vibration reduction and that’s where technology will go in that arena.”

Instead of wood piles pounded into the ground, he says drilling a hole, casing it and forming a concrete pile is just as effective and faster. In England, they’re experimenting with putting a heat exchanger inside the pile for a dual function support and geothermal system.

When he looks back on a long career that has evolved every step of the way, Roussy says he’s content with the legacy he will eventually leave behind.

“My role has been to make this a workable technology and I’ve done that quite well. When I look back at this when I do retire in 10 or 15 years I’ll know I’ve developed the technology and it’s here to stay.” PC For more information about sonic drilling, visit www.sonicdrilling.com.

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Excedrin Headache Reducing the annoyance factor

By Barb Feldman

CAT Project Contracts map.

and 4 p.m., provide weekly noise and vibration measurements, develop a pile-driving activity website and update it daily, and use alternative pile driving technology and noise containment measures wherever possible. “We basically did a research and development program to fabricate noise shrouds,” Jerry recalls.

Encasing the hammers with sound-dampening curtains attenuated the sound by up to about 10 decibels, and the piling activity was completed as quickly as possible. The CTA ruling set a precedent for future upgrading projects involving piling in the Greater Toronto Area.

“The Big Dig was the largest construction noise-control laboratory in the world,” says Erich Thalheimer, who managed the construction noise control program for the joint venture of Issue 1 2012

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Bridge and MAP PHOTOs courtesy of Erich Thalheimer. Background image: photos.com

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onths of all-day pounding were an “Excedrin headache” for the neighbourhood, and turned into a public relations headache for GO Transit, a division of Metrolinx, when West Toronto Diamond Community Group filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), claiming that the noise and vibration of diesel explosion pile driving was unreasonable. In December of 2009 the CTA agreed.

The $277-million Toronto West Diamond project, a joint venture between Anchor Shoring and Bermingham Foundation Solutions, was a grade separation between a CP freight line and GO commuter rail service and additional support for other rail lines. It required 2,338 driven piles along three continuous one-kilometre walls, to form the structure for two depressed corridors. The ground was mostly silty sand, and piles were up to 82 feet long and 36 inches or 914 millimetres in diameter, with wall thickness from ½ inch or ⅝ inch to ¾ inch. It was “a massive job,” recalls Project Zakim Bridge at night.

Manager Toben Jerry of Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. “You couldn’t really anticipate the noise, because there was no precedent.” Pile driving took place over a period of about 16 months.

Noise mitigation measures introduced prior to the CTA decision included use of the Giken press-in machine from Japan and vibratory hammer from France. The CTA ruling required that GO restrict work to weekdays between 8 a.m.

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff at Boston’s Big Dig. Officially the Central Artery/ Tunnel Project, it was the most expensive highway megaproject in the U.S.A. By the time the Big Dig was completed in 2007, pile driving had been going on for 15 years, lasting weeks and even months in particular locations. “Because of the magnitude of the project, the resources available to it, and the duration of time it was going to be exposed to the public, we were free for the first time to experiment” Erich Thalheimer assisted the US Department of Transportation Federal with noise-control solutions and compare Highway Administration in developing a them,” says Thalheimer. new handbook based on the construction “The best solution to pile driving noise is noise control work done at the Central to not create it in the first place,” he observes.

Artery/Tunnel Project in Boston. The The Big Dig used slurry walls or a pile-pusher FHWA Roadway Construction Noise system when the ground and type of piles Model (FHWA RCNM) is a Windowsallowed it, made use of pile cap cushions, based program available for use in and pre-augured or pre-trenched pile holes. predicting noise for highway construction “You still have to drive that pile to the point projects of varying complexity. “Its of ultimate resistance at the bottom, but it database of all construction equipment reduces noise by about 10 decibels.” makes it useful for any type of “You’ve got to be very flexible in the field,” construction project – highway or transit says Thalheimer. If noise cannot be conor fixed site such as a power plant,” trolled at the source, pathway controls such says Thalheimer. “It’s all measurements as traditional wood or plastic barriers may be effective if they are close to the pile, break the line of sight between pile and listener, are massive and have a surface density of at least Inc., who was the primary noise and vibra4 pounds per square foot. “And a bellows tion control support consultant for the Big that wraps around a pile and collapses to the Dig. “Continuous operation at a fixed freground as the pile is driven downward can quency may be more noticeable to nearby reduce noise as much as 15 decibels,” he says. residents, even at lower vibration levels.

“Receiver controls” can also be Furthermore, the steady-state surprisingly effective, he notes. excitation of the ground may “A good outreach program, induce a growth in the resoalthough it does not reduce nant response of building noise by a single decibel, goes components, which may be a long way in facilitating the unacceptable in cases of fragile work to be done and reducing buildings or vibration-sensithe annoyance factor on the tive manufacturing processes.” public.”

Impact pile drivers, which The vast majority of the generate a high vibration level Big Dig was downtown and in for about a fifth of a second, close proximity to businesses allow time between impacts and residences, he notes. for any resonant response to David A. Towers.

Although pile driving was used decay, he explains. in some locations where slurry “Pre-auguring to as great a walls were not feasible, “If we had had to rely depth as possible before driving the piles on traditional pile driving we could not have reduces the vibration levels by increasing done that job in the time we did – the noise the slant distance to nearby structures, and would have had too much of an impact on also reduces the duration of the disturthe city of Boston.” bance,” says Towers. Hydraulic pile pushers But sonic or vibratory pile drivers such as the Giken system, widely used in which operate by vibrating the pile into Japan and on a more limited basis in North the ground at a fixed frequency may be not America, are extremely effective in reducing be suitable in sensitive locations, says Dave noise and vibration, he notes, “but tend to Towers of Harris Miller Miller & Hanson be rather expensive.”

Database of noise

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Piling Canada

Erich Thalheimer on Zakim Bridge public walk. made at the Big Dig, so we have a very good knowledge base of how noisy modern equipment is.”

Newer and quieter technologies often are more expensive. But good noise and vibration control can reduce or eliminate an Excedrin headache not just for the neighbours, but for contractors as well. It may save money by enabling work to proceed for more hours of the week, reducing or eliminating lawsuits, or even reducing compensation claims for employees’ hearing loss or other injuries.

“We do noise control not for the benefit of the project, but for the benefit of the public,” says Thalheimer.

“But we have seen from contractors’ bid prices and actual production rates that work can proceed in a timely manner even with noise-control obligations put into the contract. It’s always the tightrope that we must balance ourselves on as noise engineers and construction managers.”

“The trick is to be economical and therefore competitive as a contractor while meeting the requirements of the specifications,” says Jerry, “Your solutions have to be sustainable, because it’s not just one job, it’s a relationship. And to be a competitive contractor within this urban environment, you’ve got to respond and make people happy.” PC

Top photo courtesy of Erich Thalheimer. Lower Photo courtesy of David A. Towers.

The Roadway Construction Noise Model and guide can be downloaded without cost or obligation at: www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/ noise/construction_noise/rcnm/

Top photo courtesy of Erich Thalheimer. Lower Photo courtesy of David A. Towers.

PILING

Acier de Geostructural pour le Canada.

www.jdfields.com J D Fields & Company is the exclusive distributor of ThyssenKrupp GfT Bautechnik

Redo Zoo

Gateway to the Arctic : Welcome Wall

Journey to Churchill

The of the Assiniboine Park

Winnipeg’s attraction getting a northern makeover

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nyone who has visited Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo over the past winter was in for a surprise. The usual drill for visitors in the past was to first pay for the tickets at the east gate, then take an immediate right turn, heading north, on towards the bear enclosure, then along the path to the birds of prey, then eventually the collection of huts where the Australian animals were kept, all while dodging the roaming peacocks.

That’s all going to change with the Zoo’s Journey to Churchill.

Seemingly, the northern third of the old zoo has been bulldozed, or is in the process of being removed (though the Journey will really just make up 10 acres of the 80-acre facility). What’s happening is a zoo-wide rethink, starting with the bears. In fact, like the Golden Boy atop the Manitoba Legislature, the whole zoo is metaphorically shifting towards the north with this planned $61-million change (all part of a $200-million upgrade to the entire park).

It is all a grand reorganization of the zoo; even the main gate will eventually move from the east parking lot to the little-used south parking lot, necessitating the building of a new and grander 22

Piling Canada

main gate. And the entrance is an important point, as a visitor’s entrance to the park will be the starting point of their actual journey to an imitation Churchill.

The journey is to be a gradual one, starting with Zone One, which shows an approximation of life on the Wapusk Lowlands, with various tundra animals intermixing (musk-ox, foxes, et al.) without any barriers between them. That will give way to the Gateway to the Arctic, or Zone Two, which is where the polar bears and ringed seals come in. In fact, the two species will provocatively share the same body of salt water, though they will be separated by a barrier. Zone Two will also feature a 10-metre-wide, 70-metre-long acrylic underground tunnel, from which people can watch the seals and polar bears when they’re underwater. Zone Three will be the Churchill Coast, featuring a replica of the type of northern town in which a polar bear might take a stroll, and will contain a restaurant and an indoor playground.

But while long-time zoo resident Debby, the ancient polar bear, has passed on, her species is planned to remain the star of the show.

Rendering courtesy of the Assiniboine Park Zoo

By Jim Chliboyko

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

“(With this project) we see ourselves becoming a real centre for research on polar bears,” said Rick Chopp, Assiniboine Park’s director of major projects.

Though the entire project is scheduled to be unveiled in late 2013, part of it is already open. In January, the building housing the $9-million International Polar Bear Conservation Centre (IPBCC) was the first part of the expansion to open; there are no bears there yet. But it’ll be the place that will handle any newly arrived polar bear cubs. If an orphaned cub was found tomorrow, they’d be able to take it in.

In the meantime, construction continues. During a January visit to the site, a number of the piles were already in the ground, specifically around the area of Zone Two’s salt water filtration building. As for the type of piles used, most of them will be bell piles, with a few hand cleaned piles for particularly difficult areas.

Load Cells

“It’s difficult to drive piles next to sensitive species, you have to be extra careful around the pronghorns.”

– Rick Chopp, Assiniboine Park’s director of major projects

It takes a number of different entities to put something like a new zoo exhibit together. Some of the firms involved with the project are (but not limited to) AGRA Foundations, Crosier Kilgour, SMS Engineering, the KGS Group and the Number Ten Architectural Group. The international firm, The Portico Group, is behind the grand design. The Seattle-based company specializes in landscape architecture, interpretive planning and exhibit design, and has done work on the Minneapolis Zoological Gardens, the Miami Zoo and the Los Angeles Zoo, amongst others.

So, it would seem fitting that an exhibit dealing with the wild Canadian north would inspire a battle against the elements.

“It’s terrible ground, sometimes there’s till right to the surface.

And boulders,” said Chopp.

“Boulders,” said Patrick Browne of AGRA Foundations when asked what the biggest challenge was when dealing with the Assiniboine Park subsurface. Most of the boulders are limestone or granite, but there had been one particularly stubborn boulder, eight feet in diameter, the previous week that had taken hours to get through. By all accounts, it took three hours to get down the eight feet. At that point, heat becomes a big enemy, even in the winter.

“You’re putting a lot of stress on the tools,” said Browne.

“Every time the drill goes in the ground, you don’t know what you’re going to hit,” said Travis Paul of Stuart Olson Dominion Construction. He also explained that in one area, in a span of 20 feet, the till goes from three feet below the surface to 18 feet below.

The good news, though, says the crew to a man is that the till in that area of the park, though unpredictable, is rather dry and easy to remove. As well, despite the fact that the River Heights area of Winnipeg has the reputation of being torture on building foundations, with its proximity to the Assiniboine River, Chopp says there weren’t any worries there. The main concern with the

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Issue 1 2012

23

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

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closeness of the river was the patterns of outflow on the storm water system.

With a dozen new buildings being constructed for the journey, as well as the various shelters and a great winding wall of shotcrete that will need a foundation, it was difficult to determine, at the time, the amount of piles needed for the whole job.

The bigger buildings required between 60 and 80 piles each, with some of the smaller structures needing only 10-15. “(For the wall) we might go from piling to spread footings, depending on the elevation of the till,” said Paul. “We may pile, we may switch.”

(The shotcrete wall will act as a barrier between humans and animals, while giving the site’s landscape an imitation stone feature that will look like it belongs there; over one-tenth of the project’s budget is for the shotcrete).

The Journey to Churchill is a pretty unique project, in several ways. For instance, it’s generally not a daily exercise to have to acquire enough acrylic for a 70-metre-long tunnel. Chopp found that there are so few manufacturers of the material that he had to get it from three different suppliers.

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Piling Canada

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“You have to get in line for a two-year delivery,” said Chopp.

Another of the project’s challenges, besides the soil itself, is the fact that construction is occurring within an actual working zoo, certainly not a typical situation for most of the builders.

“There are huge sensitivities with existing exhibits,” says Chopp. “There’s a security aspect to it, as well.”

Chopp said that working in the zoo, workers have to be aware of not just the animals, but of the animals perhaps escaping. To that end, the importance of the perimeter fence becomes paramount.

“During construction, you have to maintain the fence,” he said.

Part of the interest in the Journey to Churchill is the potential of it. Chopp says some of the initial aspects of the project have changed, as plans often do, but there are also some other things that may be possible, such as the ability to freeze the ice in the seal pool, to see the effect of climate change on the seal’s eating and living habits. A big part of the Journey to Churchill’s focus is climate change. There may also be the chance to study the bears’ denning behaviour, about which there isn’t a wealth of knowledge.

“Those are the opportunities we’re looking for,” says Chopp.

While many regular zoo visitors may be accustomed to the eagles, the lynx, the monkeys and certain other high-profile species, one may be surprised that the Assiniboine Park Zoo is actually home to 1,100 different species. Chopp estimates that there are 1,500 individual animals currently on loan to other institutions, as well.

“It’s difficult to drive piles next to sensitive species, you have to be extra careful around the pronghorns,” said Chopp, to name one species. As well, he says it’s a lot better to do this work in the winter rather than the summer, as some animals which aren’t winter-proofed spend more time inside.

Ultimately, says Chopp, there’s no secret for everyone to get along on such a big job around so many different animals, and with so many factors to consider.

“Really, it’s working with zoological staff; it’s planning, planning, planning, then there has to be co-ordination, coordination, co-ordination. And there has to be constant communication.” PC

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For More Information Contact: Pat Burk - 281-558-7199 JD Fields & Company, Inc. www.jdfields.com Denver, Colorado Phone: 303-331-6190 Fax: 303-331-6191

Dallas, Texas Phone: 972-869-3794 Fax: 972-869-3861

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New England Phone: 508-280-5244

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Winnipeg’s Hotel Boom River City getting at least six major new hotels

By Jim Chliboyko

M

aybe it’s the return of the Jets, maybe it’s the upcoming Canadian Museum for Human Rights, maybe it’s even the planned IKEA outlet, Winnipeg’s first.

But whatever the cause is, Winnipeg and its visitors will have several hundred new hotel rooms from which to choose within the next several years.

The projects are many and varied and don’t necessarily involve only one builder, nor even one particular area of town. They are scattered. Two, maybe three, new hotel projects are being planned for the downtown. One is near the Health Sciences Centre, one is

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currently under construction out at the airport, and there is another one going up beside a popular casino in the northern part of the city.

The project that is currently the furthest away is the airport hotel being built by Winnipeg-based Lakeview Hotels. It’s been a busy few years at that corner of Winnipeg, with the city having just completed and opened the new James A. Richardson International Airport terminal last October.

But the new airport hotel will be not just a place to lay one’s head. Specifically, it is being built to fill a particular niche in the airport’s neighbourhood.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Photos courtesy of Lakeview Hotels

Above and opposite: Construction on the Lakeview airport hotel.

“This hotel is going to be a high-end quality hotel,” said Randy Michalkow, project manager for Lakeview. “It’s going to be built with the quality of a five-star rating.”

The 100-room hotel, scheduled to open in late spring 2013, is right across from the new terminal. The hotel’s height is capped at six storeys so as not to interfere with the airport’s control tower. Though there are no plans in the hotel for a pool, says Michalkow, it will have many other luxury amenities like an executive lounge.

The airport hotel will feature all pre-cast driven piles. When interviewed at the end of January, Michalkow said, “We’re just finishing the hollow core today on the ground floor.”

But Lakeview isn’t just working on the one project; they are eyeing a parcel of land across the street from the Winnipeg Convention Centre downtown for a possible set of two adjacent hotels. It’s early in the process, so whether or not there will be one or two hotels hasn’t yet been decided.

The area currently is occupied by a surface parking lot, just west of the Convention Centre. Part of the appeal is the future of the Convention Centre itself, which is destined to increase dramatically in size.

There are a couple things known about Lakeview’s downtown project, though: There will be no underground parking (due to aquifer issues with downtown Winnipeg

Rendering of the completed Centrepoint.

Issue 1 2012

29

3:56 PM

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT in general), and for those attempting to dodge the winter weather while going between convention and hotel room, “I wouldn’t doubt that the Jets and everything there are plans for a skywalk connecting the future hotel(s) with the Convention else are increasing tourism.”

Centre.

Winnipeg’s Longboat Development – Doug McKay, Longboat’s director of commercial development Corp. also has plans for its own downtown hotel and office complex with the future construction of the 20-storey heat pumps,” said Doug McKay, Longboat’s have 183 steel piles, and that will begin branch of Winnipeg’s first ALT Hotel, director of commercial development. in the spring of this year. McKay said the which Longboat will jointly develop with There will be no basement to the hotel number of piles for the parkade is not yet the international firm Groupe Germaine. due to an aquifer issue beneath many known.

There are already ALT Hotels in Quebec downtown and Portage Avenue businesses.

McKay has some theories on why the and at Toronto’s Pearson Airport (set to However, the hotel itself is projected to hotel boom seems to be cresting now. open this year).

Referred to as the Alt at Centrepoint, the 200,000-square-foot complex will be located across the street, north of the MTS ONTARIO LOUISIANA Centre, the new home of the Winnipeg Inc. is a steel pipe distributor of new Interpipe 3320 3607 I-10 Miles FrontageRoad, Road RR#3 Jets. The project will replace old structural steel pipe. We have two andthe used Port Allen, Louisiana Mount Hope, Ontario Clarendon Hotel, formerly A&B Sound, 70767 large stocking locations of Seamless, ERW, L0R 1WO which for a short time housed the MTS Toll Free: (877) 468-7473 Spiralweld and DSAW pipe.

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Caissons. consultancy firm, where they’ll put their headquarters. There will also be an aboveground, 450-stall parkade on the property.

“Demolition is proceeding; piling is hopefully taking place this spring,” said Doug MacKay, the director of commercial development with Longboat.

Longboat has more than just a geographical connection to the Jets. The company is owned by the Chipman family, and Mark Chipman is the chairman of True North Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns and operates the Jets.

It’s still early days for the project, but like with other ALT Hotels, there will be environmental features such as efficient lighting and heat recovery systems. And, at this point, it looks like the heating source will be a green one.

“They just started the planning, but they www.interpipe.com are definitely working on ground source Issue 1 2012

31

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

“I wouldn’t doubt that the Jets and everything else are increasing tourism,” he says. “The age of the hotel stock is an issue.

Also, there’s the business tourism, and the Convention Centre is looking at doubling in size. Manitoba also has a steady economic performance. Where there’s troubled times elsewhere, there’s a desire to be here because of our steady economic performance.

Manitoba’s not subject to the highs and lows,” he adds.

“Also, some brands are not yet represented in this market.

They’re in Toronto and Calgary, but not here.”

The Canad Inns chain of hotels already has plenty of representation in Winnipeg but, in this case, the company is looking to the area beside the McPhillips Station Casino (which it already runs) as the future site of its newest offering. The company says that the new 200-room hotel will be built to the same standards as the popular Canad Inns Destination Centre in Grand Forks, ND. Canad Inns is also developing a $40-million, 191-room hotel beside Winnipeg’s sprawling Health Sciences Centre complex, a facility that also includes the province’s Children’s Hospital.

People come from all over Western Canada and the North to consult with some of the medical specialists found at the HSC, necessitating the need for a nearby hotel.

“Attaching a hotel to a major health facility, I believe, is the first of its kind in Canada,” stated Leo Ledohowski, president and chairman of Canad Inns, in a statement.

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“Our hope is that by locating this hotel at HSC, we will be able to make things a little easier for patients by removing the worry of where their loved ones will stay while they are visiting.”

One of the big questions for people interested in building all of these hotels in Winnipeg is, “Why now?”

“Behind it all, of course, is confidence or optimism in the marketplace, and Manitoba’s numbers are good for room occupancy and potential for growth,” said Jim Baker, president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotel Association, who estimates the growth of Winnipeg hotel rooms to be in the 700-room to 800-room range. “There’s always a need to upgrade. Hotels are a consumer product, as well,” he said.

“We’re getting some extended-stay properties, and some are for specific purposes like (the hotel) over at the Health Sciences Centre. There’s a perceived need for it. A lot of procedures are day surgeries, where you hang around for the day and need a room.”

Baker sees the under-construction Canadian Museum for Human Rights as being another inspiration for Winnipeg hoteliers looking to expand.

“There’s other signs here of progress, like the CMHR,” he said, referring to the museum’s future opening, which keeps getting pushed back.

“The sooner that gets up and running the better it is for the industry.” PC

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FEATURE

Center Rock Employs ‘Plan B’ to

Rescue Chilean Miners

Industry ingenuity shortens rescue timeline

Photos courtesy of Center Rock Inc.

By Margaret Anne Fehr

I

t was a riveting moment on Aug. 5, 2010 as people watched the breaking-news headline crawl across billions of television screens around the world. Thirty-three miners of the San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, were trapped 2,070 feet underground – beneath 700,000 tons of rock. All communication had been lost, leaving no idea to people above as to what fate had befallen the miners below.

A multitude of hazardous conditions faced the 33 miners, assuming that they were still alive.

Rick Pettipas, a 34-year veteran of the mining industry, speculated at the time that the miners might still be alive given standard procedures in the industry.

“In case of fire or another major hazard, the mine sends down a chemical that has a very unpleasant rotten eggs odour that’s flushed down the main ventilation and through the compressed air lines. That’s the signal to immediately head to the nearest refuge station that are scattered throughout the mine.”

After 17 days, word came that all 33 miners had survived and were occupying a refuge station. The rest of the world gave up a collective sigh of relief, but Pettipas knew better. When hearing about the conditions and the long estimate of time to reach the men, calculated to take until Christmas, he knew that issues like lack of sanitary conditions, possible infections and other risks Issue 1 2012

35

FEATURE

Brandon Fisher and Richard Soppe and the 26 inch L.P. drill that broke through the mine.

Inset: Five and a half by 12 inch bit hole opener that made it through.

associated with the group of miners living underground for a long period of time could prove fatal.

“Working underground is its own world,” says Pettipas. “You do not have flush toilets or running water; you carry down drinking water at most mines and learn how to eat lunch with dirty hands.”

Brandon Fisher.

36

Piling Canada

Other industry people with insider knowledge were watching as well, including Brandon Fisher, CEO of Center Rock Inc. in Berlin, Pa, and Richard Soppe, manager of DHD Sales and Product Development for the same company.

Both men knew that Center Rock’s technology could help aid in the rescue of the 33 miners and return them to their families long before the projected Christmas rescue date.

The two men had a method in mind that they felt certain would significantly reduce the rescue time. The method that was proposed and ultimately used was “Percussive Air Drilling”, often referred to as “Plan B” by the media.

“Our Percussion Drilling method utilizes the energy transferred from large air compressors at the surface,” says Fisher. “This air is then pumped down the drill pipe feeding a Down Hole Hammer. The air cycles solid steel pistons that impact the rock at approximately 1,500 blows per minute. The result is a much faster penetration rate in hard rock formations,” adds Fisher.

“More conventional methods such as Raise Bore Drilling (Plan A) and Rotary Tricone Drilling (Plan C) utilize the thrust of the drilling string to push the carbide inserts on their cutting head into the rock formation. This then makes a chip or cutting.

These techniques are reliable and proven, but they are generally slow in terms of production in very hard rock.”

28 inch L.P. drill rigging up.

Plan B Unfolds

CRI and drillers supply preparing the 28 inch L.P. to go back into the ground by changing the bits and repairing the hammers.

On Sept. 4, 2010, Fisher and Soppe arrived at the rescue site.

Layne Christensen, a Kansas City-based company, sent in two drillers, Jeff Hart and Matt Staffel, along with rig hands Doug Reeves and Jorge Herrera.

About two weeks after the collapse, Layne’s Latin American affiliate, Geotec Boyles Bros., brought in a Schramm T130 tophead drill. The initial hole that discovered that the miners were alive was 5.5 inches in diameter.

Center Rock would use their DTH (down-the-hole) drilling technology to open the 5.5-inch hole to 12 inches. This was successful using Center Rock’s CR120 hammer with 12-inch by 5.375-inch pilot hole opener bit. The next step was to drill a hole big enough for the 22-inch by 13-inch rescue capsule: Phoenix. Center Rock started drilling with a 28-inch L.P. Drill,

then reduced to a 26-inch L.P. Drill. This was the drill that would eventually make it “all the way down!”

Center Rock’s Low Profile (L.P.) Drill is a pneumatic-based drilling system that used four or five hammers instead of just one.

Acting like a jackhammer, each hammer steadily pounds the bit to crush the rock as the drill rotates.

Originally, the idea was that the compressed air would circulate the cuttings upward and away from the bits. Due to the weight of the drill pipe with inner RC tubes, there was concern that this reverse circulation method could not be carried out safely. Center Rock introduced the idea to the Chilean Mining Agency to let the cuttings fall through to the bottom. The proposal was accepted, and the miners worked day in and day out to remove the cuttings from that area.

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FEATURE

Richard Soppe dressing the bit hole opener.

Oct. 9 was the day that contact was made!

The 26-inch L.P. Drill broke through to the miners, answering the collective prayers of billions. Soppe stated: “It was the greatest moment of my life when we broke into that mine ahead of time and knew that those 33 guys were going to come out alive.”

Fisher echoed the sentiment: “I think it was the most amazing feeling that anyone who was out there will feel their entire life.”

In the next few days, the first 40 meters of the rescue shaft was cased to reduce the danger of any falling rock. Center Rock’s now three-person crew in Chile came home on Tuesday, Oct. 12.

They watched the rescue unfold with many of their fellow employees at the Berlin office, feeling an enormous sense of pride and teamwork as the 33 miners were rescued flawlessly: approximately one miner every 25 minutes beginning late night Oct. 12 and continuing all day on Oct. 13.

Fisher and Soppe said that the technology that was instrumental in bringing the 33 miners to the surface has been in the mining, oil and gas, water well, geothermal, and foundation drilling industries for many years.

“Our company and this technology were also involved in the ‘9 for 9 mine rescue’ in Somerset, Pa back in 2002,” adds Fisher.

“We have also started what we call the Rapid Response Drilling Rescue Team. This is a team of drillers from all over that can work with us and our technology to quickly mobilize and react to rescue situations. Most of this effort has been focused on the mining industry but we have identified other situations such as building collapses and tunnel cave-ins.”

Of the 33 miners rescued, Center Rock personnel have met two members of the crew face-to-face since the rescue.

“Unfortunately, the distance made it difficult to meet with more of them, but it still has been a very emotional experience. We are very thankful that Center Rock and our technology were able to help get these 33 men out of the ground quicker.”

As for seeing this dramatic rescue up on the Big Screen, Fisher says, “We have heard rumors about a movie but we have not been contacted. A couple of good documentaries have been made by The Nova Channel, Discovery Channel, and the Smithsonian Channel. They are all available for viewing on the Internet.” PC

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From

Helmets HELMETS to

Hardhats

»

Construction trades help military members transition back into civilian life

By Judy Penz Sheluk

M

uch media attention has been given to the Canadian Forces in recent years, most notably since Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan. Yet few civilians actually stop and think about what happens to the members of our military upon retirement.

Even fewer realize that the average age of a retiring veteran is 36 – far too young to think about actual retirement. But it’s even more complicated than that; in the military, every personal decision is made on the individual’s behalf, from food to clothes to shelter. Very often, it’s been that way for upwards of 20 years.

A successful transition from the military into the “you’re on your own now” territory of the civilian workforce can be nothing short of overwhelming.

Transitioning military veterans face the same challenges as any other job hunter – getting their resumé to the right people, learning how to sell themselves on paper and in person, tracking down promising leads, navigating web-based job banks, following up with potential employers, head hunters, employment agencies.

The list goes on and on.

But, while few people are truly comfortable with the job hunting process, veterans have the added stress of trying to translate 40

Piling Canada

the skills they have learned in the military into language that civilian employers can understand.

Lest you think we’re talking about a couple hundred men and women, think again. The Canadian Forces, including reservists, is approximately 99,000 strong; roughly 5,200 men and women transition back into civilian life each year. The majority of veterans also have some sort of construction experience from their time served, everything from rigging tanks, to digging ditches, to building temporary homes. And that’s where Helmets to Hardhats (Canada) (H2H) comes in.

The beginning

Joseph (Joe) Maloney, chairman, Canadian Executive Board Building Trades Department and International Vice President (Western Canada) International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, has been lobbying the federal government to establish a Helmets to Hardhats program in Canada since 2005. Maloney was well qualified for the role.

In 2002, while working in Washington, D.C. as the National Secretary Treasurer of the North American Building Trades, he successfully lobbied the U.S. government to fund a national

»»»

FEATURE

“What this means – and this is pivotal – is that a veteran will be able to register for H2H online, from anywhere in the world.”

non-profit program called Helmets to Hardhats. The program was launched in 2003 to great success.

“At the time, the U.S. was facing a severe shortage in the skilled trades,” said Maloney, “and there were also an incredible number of retiring veterans.” (There are currently 24.4 million U.S. military veterans, including the National Guard and Reserve, of which two million are under the age of 35; one in four American men are veterans; 1.7 million are women.)

Maloney returned to Canada in 2005, accepting his current position, and quickly realized that the Canadian construction industry was beginning to face the same kinds of skilled trades shortages as their counterparts in the U.S. “The construction industry in Canada has always been an economic growth leader,” said Maloney. “With changing demographics and an increasing demand for skilled labour across the country, a partnership was formed among the Canadian Forces, Veteran Affairs and the Building and Construction Trades.”

The next step was to approach the federal government for funding. Everyone agreed a program to help provide veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members and reservists access a range of careers within the construction industry, including apprenticeships in

Joseph (Joe) Maloney, chairman, Canadian Executive Board Building Trades Department and International Vice President (Western Canada) International Brotherhood of Boilermakers.

various building trades, was a good concept. Nonetheless, Maloney said, “It took a lot longer to get passed than we had hoped; there were a lot of budgets collapsed, elections held, and so on.”

Fortunately, there is a happy ending. On Jan. 6, 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced support for Helmets to Hardhats.

Issue 1 2012

41

Photo: Richard E. MacIntosh, International Representative, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Richmond, BC. stock images: photos.com

– Joseph Maloney

Photo: Richard E. MacIntosh, International Representative, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Richmond, BC.

FEATURE

Canadian Forces members and Boilermaker members attending the launch of the H2H program in Edmonton, Jan. 6, 2011.

“Our government is working hard to provide our dedicated military personnel, past and present, with the care, services, and financial support they need and deserve,” said Prime Minister Harper. “We are truly proud to be part of the Helmets to Hardhats program which will help provide jobs and training opportunities for our brave veterans, members of the Canadians Armed Forces and

reservists interested in transitioning to a career in the construction industry. The program will promote employment and economic growth while helping to meet labour needs in this sector.”

Other stakeholders are beginning to invest in H2H, including the Province of Alberta and the TransCanada Corporation, that recently provided a $1 million commitment over five years.

Helmets to Hardhats (Canada): Goals and Objectives 1. The H2H program will connect former military personnel with career opportunities from the nationwide building and construction trades: 2. To act as a transition vehicle for Canadian Forces veterans who are transitioning into civilian employment.

3. To increase the number of building trades apprenticeships in Canada.

4. To find appropriate matching of the skills of Canadian Forces Veterans into construction industry occupations.

5. To enhance the services provided to Canadian veterans through the Veteran Charter.

6. To reinforce value that the Canadian Forces, the Building Trades, fair employers and Veteran Affairs Canada bring to Canadians who have served in the Canadian military.

42

Piling Canada

Photos: Richard E. MacIntosh, International Representative, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Richmond, BC.

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Richmond, BC.

FEATURE

The Helmets to Hardhats (Canada) program will help provide jobs and training opportunities.

“Our partnership with Helmets to Hardhats is a logical extension of our relationship with Canada’s building trades unions to build our country and its infrastructure,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer.

“We are proudly supporting men and women who have served their country with bravery and honour. They deserve our gratitude, our dedication and our support. The opportunities offered through this initiative will assist veterans in their return to civilian life while bringing skilled and dedicated employees into our workforce.”

In early February, H2H was developing a website (www. helmetstohardhats.ca), was in the process of hiring a national director and was searching for an office location (in Ottawa).

They are also looking to approach other provinces and corporations for support.

“There are a lot of logistics involved … just trying to establish a bank account for a not-for-profit corporation is a challenge,” said Maloney, “but we expect to officially launch by Summer 2012.”

Issue 1 2012

43

Photo: Greg Stone, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Lodge 359, Burnaby, BC.

FEATURE

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The Helmets to Hardhats (Canada) program will help provide jobs and training opportunities.

The program

Helmets to Hardhats (Canada) will operate a website portal which will allow transitioning military members to acquire information and allow employers and We canWe arrange can arrange delivery delivery local unions to post job opportunities. to Anywhere to Anywhere Web postings will contain job competencies and requirements for entry into the Box 5451, Box 5451, program.

High River, HighAB River, AB “What this means, and this is pivotal, Canada Canada T1V 1M6 T1V 1M6 is that a veteran will be able to register 1-888-652-4336 1-888-652-4336 for H2H online from anywhere in the Fax: 403-652-4913 Fax: 403-652-4913 world,” said Maloney. “He or she can leave Afghanistan, come home to Toronto or Moncton or Red Deer, wherever they may call home, and have real career options with a decent company, health and welfare benefits, a contract under a collective bargaining agreement and zero exploitation.”

All 14 Canadian trades, representing 65 careers, are participating. H2H will provide the opportunity for quality training at well-resourced training centres that are recognized by the industry. An apprenticeship program (generally the Interprovincial Red Seal) will register the veteran/apprentice (following assessment of skill level)

1- 888-652-4336 1- 888-652-4336 44

Piling Canada

with the applicable provincial apprenticeship board and actively assist the veteran/ apprentice in progressing from year to year.

Depending on military competencies, it is anticipated that advanced placement into a program would be permitted.

The program is not limited to construction industry apprenticeship, but it can also extend to individuals who have an administration, engineering, human resources background or other skills which are required in the construction industry but not necessarily on the job site.

Disabled veterans, officers leaving the forces and reservists may also access opportunities through H2H. “Not all veterans will use H2H,” said Maloney, careful to note that the program is “just another option for veterans transitioning to civilian life.” But H2H is actually much more than that; it promotes the Canadian Forces as a valuable career experience and it encourages entry into the construction industry.

But mostly, after all our veterans have done for us, it’s just the right thing to do. PC

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Photo: Greg Stone, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Lodge 359, Burnaby, BC.

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By Lisa Kopochinski

S

eneca College in Toronto, Ont. is one of the largest colleges in Canada and one of only a handful of schools worldwide that combine teaching and learning related to commercial diving with underwater welding.

Appropriately named Underwater Skills, the program is held at the King Campus in King City, Ont. and is a training ground for individuals to become unrestricted surface supplied divers and underwater welders. In this 10-month intensive program, students cover a variety of subjects as diverse as diving

physics, physiology and hyperbaric chamber operation to cutting and welding, engines and compressors to dive systems and equipment.

“In addition, participants have a great deal of applied diving time at various depths ranging from surface to about 50 metres,” Above: Student Jen Switzer exiting the water after working on a pipe project on Lake Seneca.

Issue 1 2012

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FEATURE says Aaron Griffin, program co-ordinator. “Theory and applied diving are woven together throughout the program so that concepts learned in the classroom can be applied the same week they are learned.”

Seneca College is equipped with a fully-functioning dive lab containing a pool and hyperbaric chamber. There is also a lake on campus that is used for applied diving and underwater welding activities.

“And, we have a boat for mid-depth diving on Lake Simcoe and a barge for mid-depth and deep-water diving – to 50 metres – on Georgian Bay,” says Larry White, academic chair, School of Public Safety, Underwater Skills, Recreation and Environmental Studies at Seneca College.

“Our learning environments in all three lakes simulate actual job sites. Ontario is actually one of the most regulated jurisdictions in the world with respect to commercial diving and underwater welding.”

Led by a team of top-notch faculty and senior dive technologists who are experts in their field with decades of related experience internationally, the Underwater Skills program meets the requirements of Canadian Standards Association’s competency standards for diving operations (Z275.4) and dive candidates are trained to the standards set out in CSA Occupational Diver Training Standard (Z275.5).

Accredited by the Diver Certification Board of Canada (DCBC), the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), and the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), dive participants in this program receive more applied diving time than is required in the standard.

Student Chris Ward entering the water to work on pipe project.

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FEATURE

Mike Borean developing welding procedures in a 40 foot deep training tank.

Eligibility requirements

Offered since 1975, the Underwater Skills program is highly competitive with only 45 participants accepted annually. Beginning in late September, students undergo 34 weeks of extensive training with the majority of time spent at King Campus, located just north of Toronto, on Lake Seneca. The deep diving portion of the program takes place on Georgian Bay from a 16 metre x 9 metre dive barge anchored over 55 metres of deep water.

In order to be considered for the program, requirements include an Ontario secondary school diploma, Grade 12 mathematics, Grade 11 or 12 physics, and Grade 12 English. A basic scuba diving certificate from an approved organization is also recommended as is a minimum of 20 hours bottom time logged, and the successful completion of an approved commercial diving medical exam prior to beginning the program.

Griffin says the main reason individuals take this course is to seek the licensing they learn and acquire as part of the program.

“Primarily, participants earn their DCBC license as an unrestricted surface supplied diver which, because of the nature of our curriculum, meets the required CSA standard and DCBC’s reciprocal agreements with professional dive organizations abroad and allows graduates to work in most surface supplied dive settings in the world. Graduates are working across Canada as well as internationally.”

Adds White, “Any time there is construction or work being done in a marine environment, there is often a need for divers. Divers can provide feedback through inspection, video and otherwise, as a job progresses. And quite often divers can accomplish cost-effective repairs instead of costly cofferdams and dewatering. Rigging, salvage and recovery of lost tools and materials are predominant. Our graduates enter the workforce with all of these skills.”

Participants in the program also have the opportunity to earn other certifications such as the CSA hyperbaric chamber operator certificate, restricted radio (marine) operators certificate, safety rigging certificate, chainsaw operators certificate, propane handling certificate, as well as the Canadian welding bureau ticket and the diver medical technician (accredited by IMCA).

“It’s a rigorous program, perhaps even more rigorous than most academic programs,” says White. “Participants should expect to experience long days when engaged in their applied diving throughout the program as well as full weeks of diving and welding nearer the end of the program. In addition, outside of the scheduled time in courses, participants would have similar at-home workloads as other academic programs in tending to a variety of assignments and presentations.”

The theoretical components – essential to establish a foundation for safety of self and others – are so critical to the program Issue 1 2012

49

FEATURE

Chris Ward entering the water – a split second after the photo on page 48 was taken.

that participants in the first semester must achieve a minimum grade of 80 per cent in all courses in order to progress to the next semester in the program.

“Not all participants are successful, but we are pleased to see

a graduation rate of about 80 per cent,” adds Griffin. “This is a testament to the expertise of the faculty delivering the training as well as to the participants who actively apply themselves to the courses in which they are engaged as part of the program.” PC

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